Review of The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman

OK, I am an Alice Hoffman addict. This means I read her blog, have her web site listed in my favorite places, and whenever I hear about a new book she's writing I am filled with excitement and count down the days till I can go and buy it. The Probable Future is one of my all-time favorite Hoffman books. There's a whole lot of realistic, fully-realized characters, a big mystery, and a little witchcraft thrown in just for fun.

The whole story is centered around a New England family who are blessed (or cursed, depending) with special gifts. Each of the Sparrow women, upon reaching her 13th birthday, is given a supernatural gift. Elinor, the dying matriarch of the Sparrow family, has the ability to discern liars. Her estranged daughter, Jenny Avery, can divine other people's dreams. Jenny Avery is a single mom who never liked having this so-called 'gift'; she wanted to be normal. She left home as soon as she could, trying to get away from a mother who didn't seem to care for her, and a town where she was kind of an outcast. As a mother she is wholly dedicated to giving her daughter a normal, happy life. She worries about her daughter constantly. She's a hard worker, she's responsible...and obviously she's my favorite character in the book! She hopes when her daughter Stella turns 13 that everything will stay the same, but alas, this isn't the case. Stella's 'gift' is the ability to see how people will die.

When Stella asks her father, Will, to try to prevent a death, he ends up becoming a murder suspect, and her mother sends her to live with Elinor at the mysterious Cake House where Jenny grew up. It's a murder mystery, it's a character story, and it's completely magical.

One thing I love about this book (and about most of Hoffman's writing) is that none of the characters are one-dimensional. Even Jenny's ex-husband, who you begin to think is just an alcoholic, philandering, jerk has another side, and you get to see the sadness and deep pain of a man who's been careless with the things that mattered most to him. Each character has their own story and I was fully immersed in each one. I found myself missing my favorite characters after I put the book down, and wishing there was a sequel so I could find out how they were doing. Ridiculous really, but a sign of a good book!

- Susie

Susie's 'Uglies' Review

Well if you have read Christie's synopsis of The Uglies series, then you will know what the basic premise of the stories is about. If you haven't read it, then you can scroll down to see it:

The minute I started reading The Uglies I knew I was in for a ride. I don't read a lot of Young Adult fiction or science fiction, so this was a perfect introduction for me. I felt like I was on some kind of roller coaster ride that I really didn't want to get off of. The atmospheres are beautifully written, and I felt like I could envision every scene perfectly; from the mountain of white flowers that goes up in flames, to the towering, decapitated buildings in 'the rusty ruins'. The landscapes that Tally encounters on her travels are both beautiful and treacherous, as she's discovering the vastness of the world outside of 'new pretty town'.

Out of the three books, The Uglies was my favorite. I liked the precarious situation that Tally was in, I liked her life-risking travel to 'the Smoke' where one minute everything was fine and the next minute she's in the middle of flames or falling down a cliff. It was all very exciting, and I found myself ignoring the housework and the dishes while I read it as fast as I could.
The book gave an interesting perspective on how much importance is placed on looks, and the idea of everyone having this 'makeover' surgery when they're 16 doesn't seem that strange anymore. The line "I'm Tally Youngblood. Make me pretty." goes through my head a lot since I've read it. The book really ends with a bang.

The Pretties was my least favorite of the three. I just had a hard time appreciating any of the characters as 'pretties' and the futuristic lingo got a little old after a while. I guess it wasn't a problem with the book being flawed, as much as I just didn't enjoy the atmosphere, the characters nearly as much when they are 'pretty minded'.
I think Shay was one of the more interesting characters in this book, forming her own group called 'the Cutters' who cut themselves in order to be able to stay 'bubbly'. 'Bubbly' means that they can see things more clearly even though their brains were altered when they underwent 'pretty' surgery. The people running this futuristic world want everyone to be pretty, happy, and very, very stupid...this way (they hope) everyone will get along and there will be no more wars, etc,..

Specials was nearly my favorite, it was so good. I really love seeing Tally more as a loner type, and this book kind of brought that back. It was very cool seeing her as "the bad guy" and seeing the conflict as she struggles with feelings of love and right and wrong, versus the feelings she has been programmed to see. As a special she has been designed to feel superior, and hate others inferiorities, and to obey the orders of the villain, Dr. Cable. I really actually find myself liking Dr. Cable in a really weird way.

Specials is darker, which I generally like. At the end I definitely felt good about having read all three books, and was glad I had given them my time. I would very much recommend these books to anyone.

Review: Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld

I'm wracking my (very fried) brain and I can't think of where I first discovered this series, but I loved the plot idea and, although I wasn't willing to buy the series and resorted to loaning it from friends, I read all three books in rapid succession.

I got this synopsis from IMDb.com because they are turning the series into movies!!!

In the future children are "Uglies" until they turn 16. On their 16th birthday they get to become "Pretties" by surgery. Tally, a rule breaking teen befriends a girl named Shay. Shay is unsure about the surgery and runs away. When Tally's 16th birthday comes Tally must make an awful decision:she must either betray and turn in Shay on never turn "Pretty" and be "Ugly" forever Written by Selena

In 300 years, normal people are "Uglies" until they turn sixteen and have plastic surgery done to be transformed into the bubble headed "Pretties" who move to the glamorous part of town. The main character, Tally, is threatened with being denied the procedure unless she spies on a friend, Shay, who skipped the operation and joined a rebellious group, The Smoke.

Uglies focuses on Tally's relationship with Shay and with a "Smoke" boy named David. Of the three books (Uglies, Pretties, Specials), I enjoyed this one the least. I felt that it was fairly shallow and I didn't really relate to any of the characters. Perhaps this was simply because I was getting used to the "fluffy" writing, which I believe Westerfeld did on purpose. When I read Pretties, I began to appreciate the author's consistant "from the character's personality" writing that drove the book (very important since the theme of book 2 was about being a shallow "bubblehead" pretty). Book 3, Specials, was by far my favorite. I loved LOVED that Tally was turned - through brainwashing surgery - into one of the "bad guys" but we still felt for her. The book was written from her (unknowingly) skewed perspective, making the reader question who was actually right - Tally or Shay or David?

Although the adventures were fairly quick and not that engaging (aside from the finale in book 3, which I loved), the concept drew me in. I guess I'd call myself an environmentalist, and like to read anything that shows YA that we are destroying the earth by drilling for oil, warring with each other, building huge metal buildings and cutting down all the trees. This book gives a fair description of what could happen if we continue with our destructive behaviors. And for that, I have made Scott Westerfeld my "most want to meet in person" author. His backstory and ideas are ingenious.

If I had a rating system (which we need to get set up!), I would give this book:

5 out of 5 for concept ideas
4 out of 5 for engaging story
4 out of 5 for writing
3 out of 5 for character development

- Christina